


Invincible With You By My Side

by Starshaker



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Best Friends, Celebrations, Crushes, Flirting, Force-Sensitive Chirrut Îmwe, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Jedha, Light-Hearted, M/M, Sneaking Out, Teenagers, teen guardians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 16:09:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10517214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starshaker/pseuds/Starshaker
Summary: On the equinox Baze hopes to sneak out into Jedha on a very specific errand, but no adventure would be complete without Chirrut by his side.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [28ghosts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/28ghosts/gifts).



Baze wasn’t certain that he hadn’t been noticed, but he’d done everything within his power to avoid disturbing anyone else in the temple as he slipped out towards the gates. He suspected he’d left it too late after he’d briefly fallen asleep as he waited for the temple to become silent. By the time he’d woken the last masters had long since ended their devotions and the only sound through the corridors was the wind and the odd sandmouse which quickly burrowed away as he passed. 

As he reached the outer walls of the temple Baze paused and pressed his palm to the sandy brick and whispered the words of his devotions. He wouldn’t be gone long but saying the words felt akin to an apology for defying the masters and undermining their teachings. The force might grant him this one excursion without notice or comment from the Masters.

Baze opened one eye when he realised someone was walking up behind him and whispering to themselves. He took a step back into an alcove and listened until he could work out what was being said. 

“-And how will you possibly avoid detection if you happen to find yourself out on the streets at this time of night,” A staff shot out and Baze only narrowly missed the strike to his thigh. “Oh good, you are listening to me,”

“You should be sleeping. It’s what most people do when it’s dark outside,” Baze muttered and glanced up over Chirrut’s shoulder to see if anyone had followed him.

“How would I know if it’s dark outside?” Chirrut asked.

“I thought you knew everything,”

“I know you’re sneaking about,” Chirrut huffed and he grimaced as he glanced back at the door to the dormitories. Baze paused for a moment and waited to see if Chirrut had heard someone behind them.

“If you cause any more trouble we’ll both be on half rations for the next month,” 

“They can’t punish both of us if only one of us is caught,” Chirrut said. Baze sighed and pushed himself.

“Which one of us is going to be caught?” Baze asked.

“You, if you don’t have me with you,” Chirrut said and he cocked his chin up in Baze’s direction. “Where are we going?”

“Nowhere in particular,” 

“Then we shall both go where the force wills it,” 

“Do you have a problem with staying here?” Baze asked and then checked his tone as he realised his voice was getting louder, “Or going back to your own room?”

“ _You_ woke _me_ up,” Chirrut said as he stepped past Baze and after a count of three Baze followed in his wake. He fell into step with him at the corner of the temple gates just as Chirrut stopped dead and listened keenly for anyone nearby. Baze could pick out the noises of the people of Jedha conducting business. 

“You were fast asleep when I passed your room,”

“Did you check up on everyone whose room you passed?”

“Only the person who might contribute to me being caught out of bed,”

“There’s no-one on this side of the temple,” Chirrut said as he turned and leant back agaisnt the wall

“Then why have you stopped?”

“You were the one sneaking out, I presumed you’d have a direction in mind,” Chirrut said. There wasn’t a moment in which Chirrut couldn’t find a way to be infuriating.

“You shouldn’t be coming with me,” Baze said, “Jedha isn’t safe at night,” The second Baze spoke the words he knew that there would be no getting rid of Chirrut from that point on. He folded his arms across his chest and waited. Chirrut scoffed.

“OH no- what if I fall over. Jedha is so much more difficult to navigate when you can’t see where you’re going,” Chirrut lamented. He pushed his staff into the crevice of two crates beside them and a small animal dashed out from between them with a hiss. Baze sighed and reached out to turn Chirrut by his shoulders. 

“This way,” Baze said and before he’d taken a step Chirrut caught his arm with his hand. 

“Tell me about some of the teachings you’ve read,” Chirrut asked. 

 

There was a reason Baze had wanted to come out tonight. Tonight was expected to be Jedha’s shortest day in a year, and it’s longest night in several years. The sun had long since vanished from the horizon and a chill cut through the air; but so too did the music. Jedha City celebrated the balance in the force on each equinox, and tonight the markets would sell their wares all night, trinkets and tokens, paper lanterns would be released into the night and good luck may supposedly come to any who bury a sliver of kyber deep in the sand outside the city. 

Baze wasn’t planning to bury any slivers of kyber, but he was hoping to acquire one. Tonight might be his last chance before his deadline. The guardians might have gladly given him a sliver or shaving as there were whole corridors where through the centuries kyber had been trodden into the floors. He was not as attuned to the force as Chirrut, but none of the pieces he’d reached for as yet had felt right.

Colourful twisted vines hung between the buildings and the music from every other street corner blurred into a continuous tune down wherever they turned.

At his side Chirrut let out a small gasp. Baze followed his attention across the street and a small alcove held three small stalls.

“It’s so clear,” Chirrut said Baze glanced back at Chirrut’s whispered words and then returned his attention to the stall. He listened to Chirrut’s careful measured breathing. Baze slipped his arm from Chirrut’s grip and crossed the street to the stall. The stallholder cast one look up over his guardian robes and took a wary step back.

“I didn’t steal them,” She insisted and took another half a step back. Baze cast his eye across the table and felt a stir in his senses as he was drawn to a sliver of kyber sat amongst a handful of shards.

“We don’t need it,” Chirrut said and then looked up at the woman. “We all do what we need to survive, may the force be with you,” He caught Baze’s arm and tried to pull him away from the stall. Baze held steady. 

“What do you want for it?” Baze asked. He pulled a handful of coins from his pocket. He picked out the most valuable and set them down on her tabletop. He raised an eyebrow and gestured to the kyber sliver. She scoffed but waved him to take it.

 

“Why did you do that?” Chirrut asked as soon as they’d turned the next corner.

“Maybe I just wanted her to be less worried about us coming back after her,”

“I know you have it. I can feel it with you,” Chirrut said. He stepped a pace ahead and turned to Baze. He reached out to Baze’s chest and held his hand a hair’s breadth from the pocket where the silver of crystal was hidden, “It’s like a warmth,”

“Maybe i’m just a warm person,” Baze said. He reached for Chirrut’s outstretched hand but Chirrut withdrew it too quickly.

“Don’t you lie to me,” Chirrut snapped and shoved Baze lightly before dropping back into step at his side.

“I want it for something i’m working on,” Baze said. He took a deep breath as the smell of food drifted through the air.

“Tell me about it,” 

“No,” Baze said and turned at the next corner

“You are a stubborn old man,” Chirrut said, he never missed a step to follow Baze’s change in direction.

“I prefer unwavering,”

“You’ve always been unwavering, now you’re being stubborn,” Chirrut said. Baze shook his head as Chirrut huffed, “Are you going to buy me dinner?” Chirrut asked after a few more steps.

“You had dinner,” Baze said.

“Then what do we call the meal in the early hours of the morning?” Chirrut asked.

“Unconventional,” Baze told him as he stepped up to one of the stands. He could feel Chirrut’s eyes on him, and when he glanced up he smile had returned.

 

They ate their wraps with their hands as the continued to walk through the celebrations and sellers. Chirrut shoved his food into Baze’s hands when he was drawn to a fabric seller’s stall. Baze turned in time to catch Chirrut’s wrap and nearly dropped his own in the process. Chirrut hastily wiped his hands on his robes and was soon talking with the stallholder; a cheerful woman who only seemed to have a distaste for the guardian’s robes. 

“You protect such bright and vibrance kyber crystals and you walk around in the dullest of robes. There are enough sand-colours things on this planet,” She told them as Baze stepped up to Chirrut’s side and nodded in greeting.

“What would you suggest as an alternative?” Chirrut asked her as he ran his hand across a sheer fabric that hung from the side of the stall.

“The one in your hand is a bright red. Surely reds and yellows are close enough to being sand coloured to be acceptable, don’t you think?” She looked up at Baze as he was chewing on the final bite of his wrap and he struggled to swallow it whole as she waited for his reply.

“I don’t have a problem with the robes, Chirrut’s bright enough for all of us,” He said and gestured to Chirrut who shook his head.

“He would fade into the shadows if he thought I’d let him get away with it,” Chirrut whispered. 

“Which makes you all the brighter,” She said with a smile, her eyes darted into the crowd behind them and Baze turned to track what she saw. Nothing caught his eyes but he was reluctant to linger much longer. “Are you going to continue to fondle that piece of cloth or are you going to buy it?” She asked and Chirrut’s hand dropped away from the fabric.

“How much is it?” Baze asked.

“As much as you can afford. I’m not picky,” She said with a shrug but Baze could tell she had sussed out which of his pockets held his coin purse. Chirrut turned his head and Baze watched him as he reached emptied his remaining coins into his hand.

“What is it?” Baze asked as he handed over the coins and the woman took a glance and cut the fabric from the roll.

“There’s someone familiar, I can’t-,” He said. Chirrut frowned as he spoke and his words trailed off as he concentrated. Baze took the fabric from the woman, thanked her and started to walk with Chirrut until after no more than a dozen steps Chirrut stopped dead.

“No, wrong way,” Chirrut said and turned sharply, dragging Baze with him.

“What?”

“You didn’t want to be caught by other guardians,” Chirrut said, “Master Syr is to our left, Master Rit is further down the street,” He grabbed Baze’s hand with a grin and pulled him through the crowd in the opposite direction. Chirrut turned down an empty alleyway and they ran until the music began to fade into the distance. Baze kept his hand tight around Chirrut’s and in his other he held the sheer red fabric that flew out behind them.

When Chirrut finally slowed and braced his hands on his knees, both of them could barely contain their grins and laughter. Baze lowered himself to sit against some low sandy steps that led up to a small shop pedestal. He leant his elbows on his knees as he caught his breathe between bursts of laughter and after a moment Chirrut dropped to sit beside him. The step was small and Chirrut’s warmth was pressed alongside him. He was breathing just as heavily and Baze looked up sideway and took in his profile. The night would have been over long before now if Chirrut hadn’t followed him out. Baze could scarcely imagine a scenario where Chirrut wasn’t by his side. 

“You’re staring,” Chirrut said. His laughter had quietened and his grin had faded to a smile

“You’re a lot to look at,” Baze said and ducked his head as though that could hide his true feelings from Chirrut. He couldn’t keep from looking at Chirrut for long.

“I like you. Did you know?” Chirrut asked lightly.

“Liking people is a quality of your character; Many people like you also,” Baze said and with a smile he averted his gaze and stared down past his hands to the floor. “The force shines well on you,” He said as his eyes traces the lines of footsteps and sandworm trails.

Chirrut shoulder checked him Baze’s smile grew.

“Is there anything you’d deny me?” Chirrut asked.

“Only the things you wouldn’t ask of me.” Baze said, “It’s not often you ask. Not often you need to ask,”

“What are you using Kyber for?” Chirrut asked 

“A project. How does it feel?” Baze asked. Chirrut raised his hand to press against Baze’s chest pocket where the kyber sliver sat.

“It’s warm,” Chirrut said, “It sits well with you,” Chirrut leant his head against Baze’s shoulder and Baze shifted so they he’d be more comfortable.

“It’s not for me,” Baze admitted. He bunched his hands together in his lap, the cold was beginning to get to him now, despite their running.

“Is it for me? For my final rites,” Chirrut asked. He reached for Baze’s hands and cupped them in his own.

“Yes,”

“Your faith eclipses anything I could offer you in return,” Chirrut said. His rough fingertips rubbed small circles into the backs of Baze’s hands. “If I knew what I could offer you,”

“I have enough,” Baze said, “Stars are fading, sun will be up soon,”

“When I sleep through my studies, you will have to read them to me,” Chirrut told him as they stood and tried to work out their bearings. 

They walk back to the temple was quiet as tiredness caught up with them. The warmth of each other and the knowledge of the consequences of missing morning prayers were the only things to keep them going.

 

“Malbus, Imwe. What are you two doing?” Both boys froze at the reprimand shouted across the courtyard. Baze straightened to accept his punishment as Chirrut interlocked their arms and spoke out before Baze could respond.

“On our way to morning devotions,” Chirrut said. His voice light and at ease, “We took a walk to prepare for a day of meditation. The force is strong in Jedha today,”

“The force is with us all,” The master replied, “Be on your way,” 

“Lying to the masters is likened to turning your back on the force in some teachings,”

“I am one with the force,” Chirrut said and a grin spread across his face. Baze sighed and shook his head.

 


End file.
